By Ketki Saxena
Investing.com – The Canadian dollar edged higher against its US counterpart today in a day of quiet trading as markets await a slew of major US and Canadian economic data this week.
Loonie traders will be looking ahead to Canadian quarterly GDP growth, and Canadian wages and labour data on Friday.
Economists expect data to come in on the soft side, indicating a continued cooling in the Canadian economy.
Analysts at Monex Canada note, “In our view a series of poor prints towards the backend of the week is still more likely than not, confirming last week’s retail sales data as a one off, and putting the loonie under renewed pressure as markets bring forward BoC easing bets. That said, risks to this call are now squarely tilted to the upside, setting up an interesting week of price action for USDCAD.”
On the US side meanwhile, markets will be focusing on US PCE inflation numbers for October,, the ISM Manufacturing PMI, and a slew of Fed speakers including a fireside chat on Friday from Fed chair Jerome powell.
On a technical level for the USD/CAD pair, analysts at FXStreet note, “Near-term bullish momentum will see a technical ceiling at the 200-hour SMA drifting into the 1.3700 handle, and rallies could see bidders getting caught in a short squeeze, though a topside break of last Friday’s peak of 1.3712 will see a shift in the lower-highs pattern.”